


the one where patton puts on a dress

by wubling



Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders - RPF
Genre: Angst, Clothing, Crossdressing, Crying, Cuddling, Dating, Domestic, Dresses, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Misunderstandings, One-Shot, Self-Doubt, Thomas is also mentioned in passing, contains some headcanons of what Patton and Logan's rooms might look like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 11:56:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11828244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wubling/pseuds/wubling
Summary: Logan barely has to do anything to get Patton to turn to mush. Patton, on the other hand, seemingly can't get the same effect. He might need to recruit help for this mission.





	the one where patton puts on a dress

**Author's Note:**

> Before I start I just wanna say a couple things. First off, my "campe diem" fic got such lovely comments and i just wanted to thank y'all so much for the support! I'm usually too shy to reply to comments directly but know that I read and reread every single one and I appreciate them very much!
> 
> As for this fic, I had a little bit of a trouble keeping people in character, ESPECIALLY Patton. What a rascal. Basically, please don't be mad if he's a lil' OOC! I tried my best ;w;
> 
> Okay, with all that junk outta the way, let's begin!

It was rare for Patton to go to Roman and Virgil for help. It wasn't that he didn't trust them - he assured them of this - but most of his problems were better solved all together as a group. Talking the problems out was often the best way for Patton to truly think things through, see all his options, plan ahead. But now he felt he needed their help very badly.

Roman and Virgil met Patton in his room. It was essentially Thomas's living room, but the colors were all brightened up to a pastel aesthetic. Bubbles drifted throughout the space. Roman enjoyed Patton's room and all of it's calming vibes, but Virgil found the cheerfulness it forced into him to be unnatural. For the sake of his pride, he usually tried not to be in Patton's room for long periods of time.

While the two sat on the sofa, Patton paced back and forth. His restlessness seemed...out of character, to say the least. Even with Virgil not trying to affect Patton's mood, he seemed incredibly nervous about what he wanted to say.

"Patton, you know we're always glad to help you," Roman said after a few moments of awkward silence. "We can't exactly do that if you won't explain the problem."

Virgil nodded. "As proud as I would be to see you worked up, I can't actually take credit for it this time. Just tell us what's on your mind so we can move on."

Patton paused. He looked at them and smiled a bit, though it seemed forced. "Oh, you two! Of course, you're right, you're right!" He walked over and sat on the couch seat between them. "I guess I'm just embarrassed! I'm supposed to be the kind and cheerful side, but right now I feel like I'm being harsh..."

They let the silence sit for a few seconds before Roman interrupted. "Well, out with it, my good man! I'd be willing to slay anything for you!"

"I mean, you can't exactly slay Logan."

While Patton covered his mouth as if he'd already said too much, Virgil leaned closer. His eyes seemed to spark with rage. "What did he do to you?"

"N-Nothing! I mean, nothing intentionally? I mean, it's a problem with me, not him!" Roman and Virgil were taken aback by this. "Ahh, just let me explain!"

"That's what we've been trying to get you to do," Roman mumbled under his breath. Virgil elbowed him harshly. Patton pretended not to hear.

"I feel...well, frankly, I feel jealous of him!"

This earned a few confused stares. "Jealous of your boyfriend?" Virgil questioned.

"Whatever for?" Roman added.

"Well...!" Patton huffed in frustration. It was more at himself if anything; his feelings were all jumbled. Maybe Thomas was going through some big changes again and Patton didn't get the memo yet? He took a deep breath to collect himself. "Okay, maybe 'jealous' is the wrong word...but golly, what would it take for me to _really_ get his attention?" He grabbed onto Roman's arm and cuddled against it. "He makes my heart race so easily, I just wanna be able to make him nervous too! I wanna make him blush, make him stutter a little!" He pouted. "Is that silly of me?"

Virgil shrugged. "Eh, a little, I mean-"

"Heavens no!" Virgil glared at the interruption, but ultimately decided to let it slide. "Perhaps it's nothing to be upset over to us, but feeling this way is as valid as any other feeling you may have about your relationship! If surprising Logan is something you want to do then you'll do it!" Roman looked to Virgil for support. "And we'll help you!"

Virgil sighed, barely even trying to fight back a smile. He did want to help Patton, really, but it was in his nature to think of how difficult the task would be. "Yeah, whatever, but think about who we're dealing with here. Of all the people I can possibly imagine, Logan would be the toughest nut to crack."

Patton looked to Virgil. He seemed hopeful, but there was fear in there too, something he didn't see in Patton's face often. He hoped not to see it any more than he had to. "I know," Patton admitted. "but I've just gotta try! I want to prove this to myself!"

Virgil cocked an eyebrow. "What are you-?"

Inevitably, Roman butted in again. "Let's think about what we're dealing with here. Patton?" Patton eagerly nodded. "How does Logan catch you off guard in the way you're trying to?"

Patton's eyes fluttered shut, a dreamy smile on his face. "Oh, Roman, it's so easy for him to make me flustered, I can't imagine it'd help! But if you insist..."

* * *

 

The other day, Patton had woken up a bit later than normal. He panicked and rushed to get out of bed. With him being the main cook of the Sanders Sides, he was in charge of breakfast. Roman and Virgil weren't normally up at that hour, so he thought he had some time, though he did find himself hoping Logan wouldn't get impatient.

Patton threw on his usual outfit. He checked a mirror, making sure he wasn't too much of a mess, and headed out of his room to the main regrouping area. As soon as he dropped by, he could hear noises coming from the kitchen: loud clattering sounds, accompanied by an iPhone blasting an Audible book reading. He investigated.

Peering around the corner, Patton suddenly was locking eyes with Logan. It seemed like he'd heard Patton coming in. Patton stared at Logan for a solid minute, eyeing his bed head hair and the baggy t-shirt he was wearing for pajamas along with boxer shorts. Logan pursed his lips and his cheeks turned slightly pink. He didn't do well with sudden embarrassment.

"Patton. I thought you were still asleep."

"I...c-came in to cook breakfast."

Logan suddenly couldn't hold back a smirk. He playfully rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. His outfit changed in an instant to his usual formal attire, though his tie was loose around his neck.  
"Dearest, I was going to make breakfast for you. You know I would normally make sure you were awake on time."

Patton could feel his face absolutely burning. "I-I suppose so...b-but Logan how can you...?"

"Cook? I've watched you do it enough times and Thomas is learning too, after all, so it would frankly be strange if my skills were not improving along with him."

Patton grinned giddily. "No, no, silly! I was gonna ask how you can still look so professional in pajamas! You're so handsome, you know that?"

Logan chuckled. Hearing him laugh was so rare even after they began dating. Patton was practically swooning. "You, my friend, are a biased source. Feel free to have a seat." He quickly tightened his tie before returning to the stove. "I should be finished shortly."

* * *

 

"Lord, he's so suave when we're not around!" Roman whined. He leaned up against Patton, who was still holding his arm. "How on Earth?"

Virgil had been absent-mindedly popping the mind palace bubbles while he was listening to Patton's story. It was helping him think. "I'd hate to agree with Princey but 'how on Earth' is a good question. Are you sure you're not just exaggerating?"

Patton scoffed. "I'm offended! My Logan is an absolute charmer, I'll have you know!" He crossed his arms and made the classic 'I'm-not-mad-just-disappointed' frown. Roman pouted at the loss of the cuddling. "And...well, so what if I'm wrong on the exact words? My point here is that all he did was wear pajamas and I was fainting!"

Virgil giggled. "You didn't faint, Patton."

"Might as well have!"

"And _I'm_ the dramatic one here?" Roman teased. "We're getting off track though. You want to impress Logan; this is the bottom line. So we must think of a plan. What could you do that would make Logan shocked...?"

Virgil thought long and hard. He popped a few more bubbles, which made Patton pop some bubbles, and then Roman was doing it too. Virgil noticed and lightly pushed his bubbles towards the others. Roman in turn pushed his away and soon they were all just messing around with each other, shoving bubbles around and spraying bubble solution all over as they continued to burst.

"Wait," Virgil suddenly said. The bubble popping halted. "If it's the outfit that made you a mess, maybe we can put _you_ in something that'll make _him_  a mess."

"It's a good thought!" Patton praised. "I don't see what, though. We've played dress up many times and I can't say any of my fancy stuff has worked." He sighed. "I guess I'm just not...SUITed for it." Roman snorted at the pun while Virgil groaned. Patton grinned. "Sorry kiddo, had to be done."

Roman looked Patton up and down. He'd always wanted to give one of the glasses-wearing nerds a makeover, but he always had trouble figuring out how. Patton's adorable personality and dad-like responsibility seemed perfectly represented by his outfit. What else could get Patton's true self across? In addition to that, what was a look Patton would never have tried in front of Logan?

He snapped his fingers and smirked. "Have you ever worn a dress?"

* * *

An hour or so later, Patton was still stuck standing in place as the creative and anxious sides fussed over him. "It's missing something," Virgil insisted. "I swear it's missing something, something important, I just can't put my finger on it."

Roman was fussing over the loose sleeves of Patton's dress. They added a bit of a quirky touch, Roman thought. He also thought the flower pattern at the bottom of the dress was simply too cute for any of the other sides to pull off. Besides, he was sure that if one really wanted to analyze it, they could represent Patton's nurturing spirit or something.

"As if you're any sort of designer," Roman grumbled.

"What, and you are?"

Patton heaved a frustrated breath. "Boys, please!" They paused to pay attention. "There's no need to argue! Believe me, you two have already done plenty to help! I haven't felt this cute in a long time!" He spun around, watching the dress twirl with him. Roman laughed gleefully along. Virgil chuckled, his arms crossed. "I just hope Logan likes-"

Virgil suddenly shrieked: "Oh! Got it!" He appeared at Patton's side and wrapped a belt around him. "Gotta accessorize. Maybe add a necklace while we're at it."

"Ah, yes! Patton..." Roman materialized two very different pieces of jewelry. One was a chain, long and free like the rest of the dress, while the other was a contrastingly small size. "Do you prefer either of these?"

Patton giggled. "The one on the left seems less painful."

"Left it is." Roman dropped the necklace onto Patton's neck. He and Virgil stepped back to admire their work. "Ah, perfection. I- rather, _we_ are too good." Virgil rolled his eyes. "Say, Hot Topic, do you think we should try makeup as well?"

"Nah, his eyelashes are stupidly perfect already, I don't wanna mess with any of that."

"Agreed. You seem to be done, Patton."

"Thanks, kiddos!" Patton was practically shaking in excitement as he continued. "I just know this'll work!"

"Logan should be studying in his room right now so give him a friendly greeting!"

Virgil grinned darkly. "Then go in for the kill."

"Woah there, Black Cauldron! He's no assassin!"

As the two began to bicker some more, Patton skipped out of the room and dipped into Logan's. He didn't need their negative energy anyway. He was ready to go.

* * *

Being in Logan's room was disorienting. It was extremely minimalistic, especially since Patton is comparing it to his own cotton candy dreamland of a room. There was the work desk, a bed in the corner, and a small kitchen area. That was about it. The walls were covered in whiteboards though, often containing math equations or other sorts of problems Logan was in the middle of solving. 

"Patton. You're here."

That was another thing: it felt like the walls had eyes. For Logan to be completely comfortable, he had to at least roughly know what was going on around him at any point. As such, his room gave him a slightly higher awareness of his surroundings.

But luckily for Patton, he wasn't aware of the big surprise yet. "Hey Lo! Just, uh...thought I'd come in to say hi!"

"I see. Hello."

Patton waited. Then he pouted. Logan wasn't even turning around! "How's...How's work going?" he asked, slowly approaching the back of Logan's swivel chair.

"Quite nicely, as a matter of fact. I've just determined the ideal schedule for Thomas's next video editing session. Don't be alarmed: I've added the movie break you requested. He should have plenty of time to unwind."

"Thanks, Lo! I can always count on you!" Patton waited again. Logan was still typing away at his laptop and scribbling notes on paper. "Why don't you take a breather? You've been working for awhile! Might do you some good!"

Logan pondered this. Then he shrugged. "Perhaps later. I'm in the middle of-"

Giving up completely, Patton grabbed the back of the chair and spun it around so Logan was looking straight at Patton. He grinned as sweetly as he could in his current frustration. Logan looked Patton up and down carefully.

"Ah...wearing a dress. A new outfit type entirely." Before Patton could even open his mouth, Logic smiled politely at him and added, "It's quite fitting for you, Patton. Very...lovely, I believe is the opportune word." While Patton was recovering from his failed plan, Logan looked back at the belt he wore. "Ah, your belt is too loose. Allow me."

Patton groaned a bit. Not only was Logan not a bright red and bumbling mess, but now Patton was once again the bright red and bumbling mess! "Th-Thank you, Logan."

"You appear to be upset now. May I be of assistance?"

"Mm...not right now." He gave Logan a pat on the head though. "Thanks for being sweet."

"And thank you for being kind. I'd like return to my work, if it's all the same to you."

"No problem." He sighed. "I was gonna head back to my room anyway."

"See you for dinner?"

"Yup."

* * *

 

Patton's expression explained it all when he returned to Roman and Virgil. Roman moved to give him a pat on the back whereas Virgil favored getting right to the point.

"Did we do something wrong? I bet he hated the dress. Of course, I knew he'd hate the dress!"

"He did not hate the dress," Patton assured him. With a sad smile, he crossed his arms. He let Roman rub small circles with his hand. "He even said it was lovely. What a sweetheart, right?"

"No need to sugarcoat it, Patton," Roman said. "Just tell us what went wrong."

"Oh, gosh...It just didn't affect him like I wanted, I guess." Patton wasn't one to hide his emotions, so he let his eyes water a bit. "I was practically praying for him to, I dunno, hug me at least! Or give me any more of a reaction than to fix my belt! I just...Gosh, I thought that if I could just prove that he really..."

Virgil quickly took notice of the way Patton seemed to freeze up at this train of thought. "Prove that he really what, Patton?" he asked gently.

"I...I wanted to prove that..." Patton's eyes began to tear up. "I guess I wanted to prove that he's actually attracted to me..."

Roman hugged Patton tightly, leaving some room for Virgil to give him pats on the shoulder. "Patton, why on Earth would you think Logan isn't attracted to you?" he questioned. "He's been dating you all this time, hasn't he?"

"Y-Yeah, but...he just seems so cold sometimes. Well, cold's the wrong word...um...stoic?"

"We get the idea," Virgil assured him. "Listen, Patton. If anyone should be worried about a relationship failing, it should be me. That's my entire job. _Your_ job is to keep us in line and love unconditionally. You've been doing that and more." He paused to recollect his thoughts, thankful that Patton understood this and was being patient. "I guess my point is that...you're being the best you could possibly be. So I just hope you're not feeling inadequate."

Patton sniffed a few times. "...Thanks, kids. I love you both very much." He cleared his threat and broke off from the others' touch. "It's just...It feels hard to understand that he loves me. He rarely even says it, you know? And he's not exactly the most affectionate guy."

"Not in the way you are, no," Virgil pointed out. "But I'm sure he does other stuff that sends the same message. It might just be that he's using a method of communicating his love that you're not picking up on."

"Huh? Like what?"

Roman combed his fingers through his hair. He tried to remember specific times Logan had shown care for Patton. "Pretty much any time he helps you with the seat belt when Thomas drives us somewhere."

"The way he asks about your day even though you know he couldn't care less," added Virgil.

"When he shares his food with you..."

"When he helps you with clothes..." Virgil gestured toward the belt for emphasis.

Patton paused. Then, after staring off into space for a minute, he mumbled, "...You think so?" They nodded. Patton seem to shrink in. He knew they were right. "I've been horrible...of course he loves me. He's Logan. I should know him better than this."

Patton shoved himself off of Roman rather suddenly, making Roman yelp and stumble backwards. "Patton, I assure you, it's okay to-"

"It's not okay, though! I-I need to talk to him. I should've done that in the first place." He gulped a bit and tried to bring back his usual smile. "Thank you, though. From the bottom of my heart."

* * *

"Logan, I-I need to talk to you."

Logan was surprised this time. Even with the perception his room usually gives him, he was very focused on his work. Plus he'd assumed that Patton was truly leaving. Him returning, though not too unusual, was still unexpected.

What _was_ unusual however was his tone. Logan picked up on Patton's distress even before he turned around. As soon as he saw the tears on Patton's face, he paused to think. He needed a cause and a solution. The solution was easiest: he reached over and gave a tissue box from his desk. He stood up and wiped Patton's eyes for him, being careful not to accidentally poke him in the eye or get the tissue paper in his mouth or anything silly like that. Then he sat Patton down on the bed off to the side. Now that that was taken care of, Patton would calm down and explain the situation, and Logan would provide the logical solution and then Patton would probably kiss and hug him and then run off again. Simple and efficient.

But Patton _didn't_ calm down. If anything, he bawled harder. He even shied away from Logan when he tried to clean his face any further. Now Logan truly had no idea what was going on.

"I-I'm sorry, Logan!" Patton cried. "I kn-know your busy and I know you don't like f-feelings and whatnot, b-but I had to come talk to you." Logan slowly sat down beside Patton and made a circular hand motion that told him to keep going. "And I'm sorry 'cause y-you're being so good to me and I've been so ung-grateful."

Logan couldn't help but smile and laugh a bit like he'd just heard the funniest joke. "Whatever do you mean?"

"I mean this! All of this!" Despite rejecting Logan's tissues, he began wiping his tears on his arm, something Logan would never understand people for doing. They had tissues _right there_. "You treat me so well. You always have! B-But I guess that's just it, it didn't feel different. So I couldn't tell if you meant it in a different way. And I thought your view of me hadn't really changed, so I tried to get your attention and then that didn't make a difference so I got scared and-"

"Stop." Patton pursed his lips. Logan hesitated to reach out, not wanting to make matters worse. When Patton didn't object, he wrapped an arm around Patton. It was tensed and at an awkward angle, but Logan hoped it held the same sentiment. "Start again, but slower. Preferably less emotionally charged, if at all possible."

Patton took a deep breath. He could try. "Okay, okay...basically, I was thinking about how...how, like, when you do things for me, or when you dress nice for me, or stuff like that...I got all flustered. And I tried to let you know that I liked it and all. I wanted to make sure you knew that I loved it and I loved you."

"I understand so far. Please go on."

"But then I guess I got to thinking. I was worried that since you don't get flustered and tell me that same kind of stuff...I was worried maybe you didn't feel that way. Maybe...Maybe you didn't really like me like that? Because I know you aren't always...um..."

Logan tilted his head. "Capable of the correct emotional responses?"

"No no! Not really, I meant like...I think you're very capable, but it's just not how you usually do things! That's the only way I ever knew how to show someone affection though, so I thought that since you weren't doing it, something must be wrong. So I did this whole dress thing to try and catch you off guard! But you weren't off guard! You took it in stride and you complimented it like any other outfit. And so I thought...I thought maybe you just weren't interested at all?" Patton sighed and leaned his head on Logan's shoulder. "It sounds silly when I say it outloud."

Logan rested his head on Patton's. This was a more intimate position than they usually used. Logan decided to keep it in mind for future situations. "Well, to me it certainly does. Though at the same time I can understand where your mind was going when you came to these conclusions." He even dared to stroke Patton's hair. He got a content sigh from it, so he took note of that too. "I can't say I blame you."

"You can't?"

"Not particularly, no. The way you operate is very different from the way I operate, so I see where the confusion originated. I believe the best option would be to come up with a compromise." Patton nodded eagerly at this. "Good. You could hold your end by promising to place more trust in this relationship. Though I don't show affection the same way you do, I hope you understand in the future that it is the same affection. It's simply under a new veil, let's say. As for me, I will make an effort to be more clear about my emotions. This will reduce confusion as well and may also aid my friendships with the other two sides if I were to be understood better. I'd consider that a win-win."

Patton snaked his arms around Logan's waist and squeezed him. He also grinned wide. "Ooooh, of course! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for understanding! I promise I'll try to read between the lines better!" He shifted his head, giving Logan a peck on the cheek. "I know it might be weird for you, but don't feel like you have to change to much! This was my mistake and I should have tried to understand my boyfriend better!"

Logan smiled back. It was the small, rare, and very real smile that always made Patton blush. "I appreciate the sentiment," he said quietly. "By the way...I believe you missed."

Patton's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Missed?"

"Yes. You were a few centimeters off by my measurements. Allow me to correct it." He leaned down again and pressed a long kiss to Patton's lips, smirking proudly into it.

Patton pulled away a bit too quickly though, simply because he couldn't stop laughing. "I told Virgil you were smooth!" he raved. "They'll never believe me!"

"They don't have to." Logan's eyes drifted down to Patton's outfit. He was still wearing the dress, the belt now snug around him after Logan had fixed it. "You really do look nice in this dress."

"Thanks, sweetie! Just for you!" Patton winked playfully. "Sorry! Where were we?"

Before Logan could answer, Patton tackled him with kisses, making Logan fall onto his back. As much as he wanted to prove the point that Patton didn't need to see him flustered to prove he was interested, it was hard for him not to blush at the sudden surprise. However, as soon as the smooch attack wound itself down into calm cuddling and Patton falling asleep on Logan's chest, he decided he didn't have much to complain about.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's what Patton's dress was based on. http://www.sandipointe.com/im/dresses/women-chiffon-dress-5.jpg  
> Just thought it looked like somethin' cute that he might wear! 
> 
> I also have a note about the room headcanons: I know they're probably like. Wildly inaccurate but I liked these ideas so i thought I could play around with them a bit! Besides, Patton being surrounded by bubbles could never be a bad time, right?
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! Comments and kudos are very much appreciated!


End file.
